A5 screen blank out

[K_MacPherson]

I believe that my mobile is an A5 Galaxy.  The screen timeout is set by default to 2 minutes.  But when I am using the phone the screen blanks out after just a few seconds, unless I keep tapping it or pressing the side switch.  I once heard that this was something to do with discouraging people from speaking while driving, so I make sure to hold it some way away from my face. But still the problem persists. What can I do?

[AndrewL]

@K_MacPherson: Is this happening when you're on a call, and holding the phone to your ear? If so, then please be aware that the phone has a proximity sensor to prevent accidental button presses while you're on a call. To disable this, please open the Phone app > Press the Menu button (bottom left of the phone's display) > Call Settings > Auto Screen Off During Calls > Uncheck the box to disable this feature. Hope his helps.

[K_MacPherson]

Thanks for your thoughts.  What you describe may or may not be related but is not the same thing.  If I am trying to get through to O2 or somewhere you have to enter option buttons in answer to their questions so that the system routes you to the right dept. Between typing the first and subsequent buttons, or just when holding on to be put through, the screen first dims and then goes blank altogether - before any conversation is started.  I found that I could cure the latter by pressing the button at the top right corner (repeatedly) but it is irritating and - to me - should not happen. It would be a different matter if this happened after a much longer interval (for example in the course of a call as you describe) with a view to battery conservation. but I have had it happen when in the process of inputting a phone number and had to pause for a second to check it.  At the very least there should be an option to vary the interval IMHO. May be I am missing a trick.

[K_MacPherson]

PS I went into Settings via the gearwheel icon but unless it is hidden as a sub heading I cannot see any Auto Screen Off During Calls option.

Correction to what I said earlier: It is a Galaxy A5 (2016) so may be the menu options are different.

[Newfcj]

I see that you have not responded to K_MacPherson's follow up reply to your suggested method of prevent the problem to which you responded. Since this was four years ago, I don't imagine you ever will! Your answer was incorrect for the A series of Samsung phones. They do not have the option you mention "Auto Screen Off During Calls. If you cannot or will not correct this error, this post and the suggested resolution should be removed from the community board. It only frustrates the thousands of users seeking a solution to this bug in the software or hardware of the Samsung A series phones.

[Miena]

Just take it out of the case, problem solved. Don't know what could be the cause,i have a cracked screen cover so could be that, that causes the problem with the case. Either way take it out and the problem is solved

[Newfcj]

It's highly unlikely the cause of your problem is the same as the thousands of others who share this complaint. Surely not all of them have cases on their phones with a screen cover, let alone a cracked one!

But at least you found the solution to your unique problem.

Unfortunately, from what I can tell from the many posts on this subject, no one else has been so lucky. It seems to be a built in bug in the Samsung Galaxy A5 phones, either the operating system or the hardware. Since the problem has existed for at least five years, it seems unlikely Samsung cares enough to fix it.